AZ Notary Electronic Notarization and Remote Online Notarization 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Arizona law, a document notarized via RON has what legal standing compared to a traditional in-person notarization?
- Reduced legal standing and requires court confirmation for real property
- The same legal effect as a traditional in-person notarization (Correct answer)
- Validity only within Arizona and not in other states
- Conditional validity pending a 30-day challenge period
Correct answer: The same legal effect as a traditional in-person notarization
Arizona statute expressly provides that a notarial act performed by RON has the same legal effect as a conventional in-person notarial act.
Question 2: An Arizona notary wishes to perform in-person electronic notarization (IPEN), where the signer is physically present but signs an electronic document. Does IPEN require a RON technology platform?
- Yes — all electronic notarizations must use an approved RON platform
- No — IPEN does not require a RON platform because the signer is physically present (Correct answer)
- Only if the document will be recorded with a county recorder
- Yes, but a simplified platform with no video is acceptable
Correct answer: No — IPEN does not require a RON platform because the signer is physically present
IPEN involves a physically present signer and an electronic document; it does not require the audio-visual or identity-proofing infrastructure mandated for RON.
Question 3: The notarial certificate on an Arizona RON document must contain language indicating that the principal:
- Acknowledged the document by telephone
- Appeared remotely by means of audio-visual communication technology (Correct answer)
- Submitted a notarized identity affidavit in advance
- Was verified through a state government database
Correct answer: Appeared remotely by means of audio-visual communication technology
Arizona requires RON certificates to state that the principal appeared by audio-visual communication, distinguishing them from in-person certificates.
Question 4: Which entity in Arizona sets the standards that RON technology platform providers must meet?
- The Arizona Supreme Court
- The Arizona Secretary of State (Correct answer)
- The National Notary Association
- The Arizona Department of Financial Institutions
Correct answer: The Arizona Secretary of State
The Arizona Secretary of State is responsible for establishing and maintaining the standards that RON technology platforms must satisfy.
Question 5: The credential analysis step in Arizona RON identity verification primarily involves:
- The notary visually inspecting a physical government ID through the camera
- Automated software analysis of a digital image of a government-issued ID (Correct answer)
- The principal verbally reciting information from their ID
- A real-time query to an Arizona DMV database
Correct answer: Automated software analysis of a digital image of a government-issued ID
Credential analysis uses automated technology to examine security features and data of a digitally submitted government ID image to confirm its authenticity.
Question 6: If a RON technology platform used by an Arizona notary suffers a security breach that compromises notarial records, the notary's obligation includes:
- Simply switching to a different approved platform immediately
- Notifying the Arizona Secretary of State of the breach (Correct answer)
- Filing a police report as the sole required response
- Deleting all stored electronic records to prevent further exposure
Correct answer: Notifying the Arizona Secretary of State of the breach
Arizona notaries must report security incidents affecting their electronic notarial records to the Secretary of State in addition to taking remedial steps.
Question 7: A principal fails the knowledge-based authentication quiz twice during an Arizona RON session. What must the notary do?
- Allow a third attempt after a 24-hour waiting period
- Terminate the RON session and refuse to proceed remotely (Correct answer)
- Proceed using credential analysis alone as the fallback
- Permit the principal to answer easier substitute questions
Correct answer: Terminate the RON session and refuse to proceed remotely
Under Arizona's RON rules, failing KBA twice disqualifies the use of KBA for that session; the notary must terminate the RON session as the identity proofing requirement cannot be satisfied.
AZ Notary Electronic Notarization and Remote Online Notarization 5
Under Arizona law, a document notarized via RON has what legal standing compared to a traditional in-person notarization?